Google has introduced a new element to its AdSense advertising platform: video …

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Google has made its next move into becoming a next-gen broadcasting company by introducing a new feature to AdSense that will include video. AdSense video units allow website administrators to not only include text ads on their sites, but related video content from YouTube partners that have agreed to be part of the service.

"But if I wanted to include a YouTube video on my site, I can already embed it wherever I want," you might say. That's true, but you're not making any money off that embedded video, either. Now you can, and you might even start thinking of yourself as an "affiliate" network of this growing Google beast.

The basics

AdSense video units will work just like AdSense. Including such units on a site about, say, rugby, might mean that the ads on the side or bottom of the page are not only composed of the text ads that we're all used to seeing; Google can now serve up videos from YouTube that are related to rugby. Google will also display small, overlaid text ads on the bottom section of the YouTube video as well. The company has said that the added revenue generated from the video units will be split three ways: between Google, the website owner, and the video owner. It has not, however, stated what proportion of the revenue would go to whom, although Google AdSense manager Christian Oestlien indicated in a Variety interview that larger content partners would likely get a bigger cut than amateur videomakers.

Google has several videos on YouTube geared toward introducing video units and helping users get started using them on their websites. The process is pretty simple: log into your AdSense account, click on the "video units" link, log into YouTube, and associate it with your AdSense ID. Then, customize the video unit player in layout and color theme, and decide what types of videos will display on your site. This can be automatically determined by Google based on the content of your website, based on specific keywords of your choice, or chosen from specific content partners.

GBC is must-see YouTube

AdSense video units are Google's first move to turn YouTube videos into a viable advertising platform with global reach. Not only does this allow Google to finally capitalize on its purchase of YouTube, it also helps to turn smaller websites into miniature affiliate platforms that could one day eclipse traditional affiliates. Don't laugh.

Television advertisers are having a harder time than ever in getting a good return on their investments, which they blame squarely on the use of DVRs and declining interest among Internet users. Meanwhile, both online advertising and video content are taking off. With so many parties scrambling to offer richer entertainment experiences, the potential of AdSense video units should leave broadcasters scared of where this might lead in the future.

Where do we think it will lead? Google has the platform, the bandwidth, and the processing power to handle video content—that much is already known. By creating an incentive to get end users involved in what is essentially a commercial affiliate relationship with content producers and the "parent" broadcaster, Google is taking a page from the traditional affiliate/broadcaster relationship and bringing it to the web. Google has the platform and the technology, but it knows that users can best create video portals, collections, and other venues best suited to building an audience (and revenue).

Now, imagine what happens down the road, when YouTube's magical copyright filter is in place and more major content providers get comfortable with YouTube. All of a sudden, major commercial properties could also be showing up on "affiliate" sites. There's still a long way to go, but Google's move in this area is hard to overestimate in terms of significance. If the traditional AdSense is partly responsible for the explosion of blogs online—the very same blogs that are eating into newspaper revenues—we imagine a similar struggle playing out in the video world, especially if amateur content continues to grow.

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Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui